Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has fully backtracked in a decision to move forward with a controversial non-resident property tax.
In a Thursday release, Houston said his intention was to improve housing affordability in the province, “not to be at odds with our core value of being a welcoming province.”
“I have heard for months from Nova Scotians who are concerned about housing affordability and want to be able to buy their first home. I commit to finding a tool to make it more affordable for first-time homebuyers,” Houston says in release issued Thursday.
The tax was first announced March 29 in the Nova Scotia budget, and went into effect April 1. It required non-resident property owners to pay $2 per $100 of assessed value of their residential properties.
Realtors in the province argued it was sending the wrong message with the tax.
The new announcement comes just two days after the premier revised the contentious tax, saying owners of properties such as small cottages will be exempted from the tax on the first $150,000 of the home’s municipal assessment.
A second tax introduced in the budget mandates non-residents who buy property and do not move to the province within six months of the closing date to pay a transfer tax of five per cent of the property’s value — that tax is remaining, the province said Thursday.
More to come.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
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